Dancing
“But...there's one problem, Star.” Her normally angelic face melted into a scowl. “What are you talking about, Marco?” He tapped his foot and pulled at his shirt collar. His gaze drifted to all points nowhere, anywhere but into that look. “Star...I can't, erm...ah, dios mio...” “Can't what, Marco? You just said you'd be my date!” There is was again. Did she have to use the “D” word? She must have noticed the effect if had on him, because her face had softened to a simple, almost amused huff. “As my friend, antsy pants. No big deal!” “Uh, yeah. You're right!” Marco exclaimed, his confidence inflating faster than his brain could process. His mouth hardly had the same problem. “Because why would I want to date you anyway? I mean of all people, right? Do I even look like a prince? Ha! Ha ha heh heh...heh...?” The look she gave killed only his voice, but it felt like it could do more. She stuck her hands to her hips and raised an eyebrow. It was lucky she didn't know exactly what effect she could have with just a look. They weren’t even married. Yet. He buried that thought immediately. “Hm. I guess not,” she quipped hotly. “But I still want to know, my toad-like friend, what's the problem with you coming with me to the Mewni Trans-Dimensional Ball?” “Oh, right. That. Well, the thing is...I don't know how to dance.” “Yes you do! You danced with me at the club last week!” “That's different. This is like...formal, and stuff. I don't want to embarrass you is all.” Star inhaled a sharp breath of surprise with a squeal, her lip quivering and eyes slightly watering. “Marco, that's the sweetest thing you've said to me since you called me pretty in front of that Negatron robot!” She hopped in place before throwing her arms around him. “Huuuuugs!” He smiled and returned the gesture. That alone was enough to make him blush, and the Negatron memory didn't help. They were in a technologically brilliant dimension, fighting a mad scientist. Some maniac who figured out how to harness sadness and misery. He had an army of evil robots, all too easy for their combined magic and martial arts might. But the last one, this Negatron... “You are useless. Too weak to wield that wand. Give up. Admit your inadquence.” Its voice was cold and metallic. Star ignored it for awhile, trying to battle back, but it was seemingly indestructible. The insults kept coming until they took their toll, little by little. Star began to fade, and the machine grew stronger. The scientist cackled. “Now you see, you disgusting little girl! You are nothing! Give in!” Marco felt helpless. They were going to lose, they were never going home. His punches lost their strength, and Star could barely lift her wand. If only there were something he could say, something he could do... “The dimensions won't miss losing this one, I dare say. Ugliest, most wretched princess I will have ever defeated...” Marco clinched his teeth. He may have to go out, but he wasn't going out listening to outright lies, especially not about Star Butterfly. “Hey! Egghead!” he shouted. The room stopped for a moment, expecting something now. He began to sweat harder. “She's...she's not ugly!” He stood up straighter. Star looked on with widened eyes. “She's the prettiest princess of all time!” Star gasped somewhere near him, but he didn't have time to come to grips with the implications of what he'd just said. “Inside and out. She's beautiful, but she's also the nicest, and the strongest, and...and she's nothing like what your piece of trash robot says!” He stood up straighter. Star was beginning to do the same. Her wand began to glow. “So just shut up already!” “Yeah!” Star added. “And...and my friend Marco is the coolest friend I've ever had. And I've hung out with both unicorns AND pegasi! Including the icy-kind, in the Mountains of Maelstrom! And they're as cool as ICE!” She floated into the air, and cast a grin toward Marco. “Thanks!” He returned the grin with a smirk and nodded. The spell and his kick landed together, and the robot had no chance. She'd thank him later for the encouragement, calling it “so super duper sweet”, and he'd tell her “likewise” for her own kind words about him. Neither would know the other was also staying up all night in bed, thinking of just what the others' words might have really meant. Star pulled away from the embrace in the present moment. “You won't embarrass me, Marco. You couldn't. I'm proud to call you my friend no matter what.” She raised her wand and summoned a record player. “But if it makes you feel better...we could praaaaaactiiiiiiiiice!” she sang out in a high falsetto, posing on one foot and spinning like a ballerina. He was too nervous to answer either yes or no, so she answered for him. She took his hand, placing his other on her hip as the music began to play. “Star, this could be dangerous. I-I might step on your foot, and break it and then you won't be able to-” “Shhhhhhhhh.” She rubbed her nose to his soothingly. “You're fine. I'm fine. We're gonna have a great time. Now just sway thiiiis way, and thaaaat way, to the music. I already know you have rhythm, Marco!” They waltzed to the tune, some piece from Mewni. Or so he thought, it wasn't as though he were an expert on the subject. Star looked especially lovely at this close of a distance. Her hair swayed in time with the beat, and he could breathe in her scent every time he inhaled. She looked serene, in her element. She must have had a lot of practice from growing up as a princess. “I think...I think I'm getting the hang of it. It's kind of fun, actually.” “There you go! Nothing to worry about, Professor Star can teach anyone to dance.” They both laughed at her whimsy, and settled into a comfortable silence for the rest of the song. When the music finished, they stopped their dance, but neither seemed to realize it was time to let go. They held each other for many long moments, caught somewhere between a daze and a dream in each other's eyes. The trance broke only when Marco's cell phone rang. His mother was wondering where they both were, on family movie night of all nights. They broke apart with flustered nerves, answering Mrs. Diaz's call and stumbling over half sentences. They hung up half sure she understood a word of it. “So, heh heh, good now?” “Yeah, I think so. Thanks Star. I'd be...honored, to attend the ball with you. M'lady,” he bowed, tongue firmly in cheek as he looked up at her in a mock kneel. Star's fluttering heart could have been fooled. No supposed hero ever looked quite the part as one Marco Diaz did right there and then... “Glad to hear it,” she said with a pitch a shade higher than usual. “It'll be so awesome to have my best friend around, and not some jerk loser my parents set me up with to keep the nobles happy!” Marco nodded curtly, at an all too awkward angle. “I'm sure...it'll be awesome...but for now-” “-we better get going, I know. I'm learning.” She rolled her eyes playfully. As they left the portal, dropping squarely in front of the Diaz's front door, Star grabbed his shoulder. “One more thing, Marco. You're not a toad at all.” “Aw, Star. I knew you were just kidding.” “Pfft, no you didn't. But I did want you to know...you really did look like a prince, back there.” Before he even had time to react, she giggled her way back inside, almost daring him to chase. He paused, then began to follow her, feeling ten feet tall. Neither would remember a bit of the movie that night, but they'd never forget the dance. Category:Fan-Fictions